WILL THE SUPREME COURT CONTINUE TO BE INFLUENCED BY PATENT REFORM?
By Paul Morinville & Gene Quinn
Published by IPWatchdog
We’ve analyzed all of the Supreme Court patent related decisions since 2005 comparing them to proposed patent related legislation pending at the time of the decision. Invariably, the Supreme Court takes a provision or two from pending legislation and makes it law, often word for word. To me it is unbelievable that the Supreme Court has taken on the role of legislature, but it is what it is. Who am I to question the authority of those wearing a black robe with life tenure.
Having seen nothing to change this recent history, we base our predictions for 2018 on the premise that the Supreme Court will continue in their role as the legislature.
There are currently two patent related bills in Congress, the STRONGER Patent Act and the US Inventor Act. A third bill is waiting in the wings. All three address the PTAB. Two eliminate it and one changes the constructs of PTAB rules to be more like a real court and consistent with the way disputes are handled in federal district court, which makes sense if you are going to keep the PTAB given it is supposed to be a federal court alternative.
